The Bestiary

The Bestiary is a description of animals and their characteristics (both naturalistic characters and behavior). This book dates back to Medieval Times. In religious context, the Bestiary has an allegorical purpose since it uses fictional characters to describe some subject by suggestive resemblances. To figure out meaning (God’s plan/message/reason), everything becomes allegorical. Medieval Europe depended on Religion to figure out meaning. Blasphemy was against the law. The Bestiary demonstrates how the meaning of sense and nonsense depend on the context. Although most of these animals do not exist, their characteristics and pictures are realistic and believable.

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the tool box

The different readings of the course make me think of tools in a toolbox. Looks at all the different concepts of the means of expressing ourselves ie. Rhethoic, Logic, Relativism, the studies in sense and non-sense. These all seem like tools we can use in daily life to better understand culture

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The translation of Kafka was interesting. It leads me to wonder if the original meaning of an author is lost in translation. One interesting text in my opinion would be the bible, I wonder if over time certain meanings and ideas have been changed or altered without that having been the intention of the translator

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Announcement - Second Term Lecture Hall Change

Michael,

Due to scheduling issues your classroom for CUST 100 has been changed to SW208 effective the next term, January 2007. Signage will be posted on your current classroom door in January but could you also please make an announcement in class to notify your students of the change.

Thank-you for your cooperation,
Rae - Trent in Oshawa

Rae Gibeault, Trent in Oshawa
2000 Simcoe St. North, Room C111
Gordon Willey Building
Oshawa, ON L1H 7L7
(905)721-3003

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English translated to Teplik

I have no idea if this is correct but here we go. This is my understanding of how to translate English into Teplik.

This is the passage in English:
We camped at the oasis. What was dangerous was asleep. One Arab, tall and pale, came past me; he had seen to the camels and was going back to his blanket to sleep.

This is how I figure it looks like in Teplik:
Da klhper sh ghy osiaj. Kils thy janhutoiut thy delkku. Nuh kald, ladt shp kolp, nams ovat hs; uh jih bggh yu ghy jaksld shp cbj kolhu njkh yu kij lmakugt yu elkku.

I dont know if this is right, but it was worth a try.

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TRANSLATION

When we translate English phrases into different languages the meaning is lost. This is because other languages do not follow that same form as the English language. Words are used differently and sentences are stuctured differently.

For example, the French say “Il pleuvait à boire debout” which has the same meaning as the English phrase “It is raining cats and dogs”. When “Il pleuvait à boire debout” is translated directly into English, it is converted to “It rained with drinking upright” which does not make any sense to English speaking people. A reason for different cultures having different “catch phrases” is supported by Saussure’s idea of convention: people speak sharing a common ground. The words are chosen by the culture to understand the given circumsance.

The English understand “It is raining cats and dogs” as it is pouring rain. The French would interpret this literally or nonsensically. The same would occur with the French phrase: “Il pleuvait à boire debout”. English speaking people do not understand “it rained with drinking upright”. This French translation is suppose to imply that when it is pouring rain it will fill your opened mouth if you face it up towards the sky. The translation does not translate this meaning because words are tied to thoughts, they are not independent things. Language helps us make sense of our lives and language is a social experience. Different languages have different expressions because language is based on the social desirable and words are defined based on the context.

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Translation assignment

I don't see any blogs on translations of page 65 into Teplik so I'm guessing that everyone else is just as clueless what that was all about as I am? I hope so.
I found this weeks assignment a LOT easier than the rest have been, which was an awesome relief because it didn't take me as long as I expected it. I thought it was pretty cool how things being translated that many times can get switched up so much, yet still have the general same meaning.

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Bestiary

I found the website very interesting and unusual at the same time. Some of the stories such as "a goats blood can disolve a diamond" a diamond meaning stone? If so, wow, thats interesting, who came up with that one. Even the cats how they see in the dark and are "enemies of mice" how true is that still today. Ie Tom and Jerry cartoon. Or " the worm is born without intercourse from flesh and sometimes from an egg" Is this true? or am I gullable. It's funny how some of the tales have carried along till this day. Like one of my peers said its in the media and video games. I found the link entertaining.

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